Isle of Man TT: Harrison set fastest time in TT qualifying start

Dean Harrison set the fastest time in Tuesday’s first qualifying session for the Isle of Man TT.

The Honda Racing rider topped the Superbike leaderboard with a speed of 133.925mph, a time of 16min 54.206sec.

The five-time TT winner had previously posted a 133.222 lap from a standing start on his opening lap before shaving more than five seconds off his lap time on his second circuit.

The Yorkshireman, now based on the Isle of Man, was a double winner in the Superstock class last year, his first race win since 2019.

Michael Dunlop was second fastest in the Superbike class on his Hawk Racing Honda at 130.341, some 28 seconds slower than his rival.

Manx rider Nathan Harrison, Ian Hutchinson, David Johnson and John McGuinness completed the top-six leaderboard.

Australian Josh Brookes led the Superstock qualifying leaderboard with a 130.197 on his DAO Racing Honda, with 14-time winner Peter Hickman second behind the double British Superbike champion on 129.42 and Jamie Coward on 128.702.

Dunlop was the best of Supersports with a 126.922 on his V2 Ducati, making a strong start to extend the Northern Ireland rider’s run of eight consecutive race wins in the class.

Brooks was second in a Suzuki at 124.271, followed by Hickman in his Triumph at 123.584.

Paul Jordan topped the sportbike pace for a 120.208 lap in an Aprilia, with Coward (119.199) and Brown (119.097) second and third respectively.

The final sidecar session ended prematurely due to a red-flag situation.

An update from Race Control said they were “handling an incident that occurred at Brandish”.

The opening practice session for the 2026 event on Monday was red-flagged after a crash on the northern section of the 37.7-mile (60km) mountain course, leading to the abandonment of the rest of the day’s schedule.

Two spectators were later flown to the UK for specialist medical care after a contestant crashed into the crowd.

Six other spectators and motorbike racers have been released from hospital, event organizers said.